4th
Sunday of Easter
at St.
Mary’s in Salem
24-25 April
2021
1 Jn 3:1-2
Jn
10:11-18
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
Today is popularly referred to as Good
Shepherd Sunday. We take time to reflect upon why Jesus called Himself our Good
Shepherd, Who lays down His life for the sheep.
I can remember one time on an official visit to one of the
islands in the Caribbean that, as we were driving along, encountering, and having
to stop for herds of sheep and goats crossing the road, my host gave me a
lesson in defensive driving. In the islands he said, the herd always has the
right of way, so you just stop and bide your time until they have crossed the
street, path, or highway you are driving on. My host told me that in a face-off
his own preference was for the goats. He said that in comparison (sheep vs.
goats) the goats always came out on top, because they were smarter, they would
not just blindly charge across the road following their leader. Seeing a car,
goats would often stop and let you drive through, something which would never
cross the mind of a sheep. Fair assessment of the relative merits of goats over
sheep or not, with that piece of knowledge you can see how important the
shepherd’s care and defense of the flock is, at least when we are dealing with
hopelessly dumb sheep. Wolves, obviously, are not the only ones who present a
danger to the flock. A modern-day shepherd must look out for car, bus and truck
traffic as well.
My point, however, regarding Good Shepherd Sunday is not so
much about us as sheep. We should not so much be concerned with assessing the
relative helplessness of sheep and whether it is an insult to compare us to
them. “We, the sheep of his pasture, the flock he guides.” No, the point is to
focus rather on Christ Jesus as the Good Shepherd, Who lays down His life for
the flock. This Sunday’s message about the Lord Jesus as the one who cares for
the sheep, as the Good Shepherd, is about Him as the one and only Savior for us
and for the life of the world.
To understand what I am getting at, there is nothing more
fundamental than the preaching of St. Peter read to us from the Acts of the
Apostles today. St. Peter offered a clear and uncompromising witness to those
who heard him that day and on countless other occasions, when he proclaimed:
“There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any
other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”
“He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has
become the cornerstone.”
How many of our people? How many priests today will not even
deal with this affirmation made by St. Peter? I mean that notion that only in
Jesus and nobody else… only in Jesus is our salvation! Confucius cannot save
you. Mohammed cannot save you, nor can Buddha nor anybody else. Only Jesus is
our life, our light, and our resurrection. He is the cornerstone. You cannot
build a life worthy of your human dignity, made as you are in the image and
likeness of God, the one and only God living and true, except on the Lord
Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus alone, He only is the cornerstone of our lives.
Let the words of St. Peter sink in and not just wash over
you, going in one ear and out the other!
I think of all the family members you or I may have, who walk
away from the Church. What about that good friend who claims she does not
believe any more or that colleague at work, whom you know had a Catholic
upbringing, but not only has no time for church; he never even prays in
private? His mother and others may justify his apostasy saying that he is a decent
guy. They defend his unbelief, his rejection of his only Savior and the Savior
of the world by claiming that in his everyday life he is more charitable than
most the folks you see in church on Sunday. It could be, but the point is
another. We are focusing on God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, and
not on our relative merits.
We cannot get around Jesus Christ; we cannot live and prosper
without Him at the center of our lives. Ultimately, the problem is that our
world has become too subjective. It pretends to be self-sufficient. Maybe we are
crass materialists and chase after lesser goods or maybe we are just overly
proud and will not bow our heads to anyone, not even to our Creator and
Redeemer! Try and sort it out if you can! Sure, poor hopeless sheep need a
shepherd and a good one, if they are to remain out of harm’s way. Would that we
understood as much in terms of our own possibility of living and prospering in
this life in hopes of entering into the fullness of life in the world to come!
For us, life is not snuffed out in death as it is for dumb animals. We have an
eternal destiny, precisely for how we are made. The tragedy in a faithless
person’s life is not recognizing our destiny or refusing to accept who we are
before God. At least the lost sheep knows he is lost and knows he belongs somewhere
else, somewhere better. So stubborn is he not; the lost sheep would rather be
in the shepherd’s care. He would rather hear the shepherd’s voice and follow
safe and secure to green pastures and clear running water.
What then is our mission in the face of the lost sheep in the
circle of our family and friends? Am I suggesting that you nag adult people who
neglect their duties as Catholics? No! Should you shun everyone who is not
Catholic or does not practice their faith? No! But I do ask you to build up
your life on Christ the Cornerstone. Give witness by your firm belief and
practice of the faith! Beyond fulfilling your duties as a Catholic, that should
translate into seeking a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Your day must
have its anchors in prayer, morning, noon, and night, in personal prayer simply
defined as lifting your heart and mind to God.
“He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has
become the cornerstone.”
Even St. Peter, at the very dawning of the Church and its
mission of proclaiming Christ recognized the reality of rejection. He
confronted it and sought as best he could by word and example to lead all he
met to Christ the Good Shepherd.
“There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any
other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”
Praised be Jesus Christ!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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